Sound effect modules (also referred to as cartridges) are electronic devices that allow musicians to manipulate the signal produced from an electric or electronic instrument. The first practical sound effect modules to be used regularly outside of the studio were those built into amplifiers using vacuum tubes. With the emergence of the electronic transistor, sound effects circuitry was able to be even further condensed into small, portable containers commonly referred to as effect pedals (FX pedals), or stomp boxes. Effect pedals can be designed to produce one or more effects and typically provide a number of controls for adjusting the extent to which the sound of the instrument is manipulated. There are many such existing effect pedals available for musicians who play electronic instruments, and in particular, electric guitars.
Effect pedals may be used for a variety of sound effects, and include pedals that may be categorized as distortion pedals, chorus pedals, reverb pedals, and/or multi-effects pedals. Distortion pedals work by increasing the harmonic qualities of the guitars natural sound, creating the “hard” guitar tones commonly associated with rock, punk and metal music. Chorus pedals, in simple terms, help to repeat an electric guitar's input signal, allowing a guitarist to make it sound as though more than one guitar is playing. Reverb pedals layer a guitar's natural sound to simulate echoes, and allow a guitarist to create the sound one would hear while playing in a wide variety of locations. Multi-effects pedals may include effects such as reverb, chorus, and distortion, as well as a multitude of other sound effects, such as a compressor, booster, wah-wah, overdrive, fuzz, distortion, phaser, or flanger. Utilizing such pedals provides a guitarist the ability to achieve a desired sound quality, tone, dimension, and effect that the guitarist truly wants to achieve.
One issue with the use of effect pedals with electric guitars is the effects loop with a connected amplifier. The effects loop is an output/input (send/receive) that enables a user to insert effects between the preamp/equalizer section and the power section of an amplifier. Some amplifiers were built without an effects loop only allowing effects to be run straight into the front of the amp. This creates a problem when the gain channel of the amplifier is used for an overdrive tone. In general, time-based effects like delay and reverb, and modulation effects, tend to sound more natural when applied to the signal after it is overdriven. When the modulation is applied before the overdrive, it can lead to a duller sound. With the introduction of higher gain preamps that produce overdrive, manufacturers started creating effects loops so that modulation and time-based effects could be inserted into the amplifier after the overdrive channel, and before the power amp, thus keeping the overdrive first in line.
Other issues while using multiple effect pedals are the cables used to connect the effects to one another, the power cords used to supply each effect pedal with operating power supply, the physical space required for each effect pedal enclosure, and the baseplate the pedals are temporarily attached to (normally using a hook and loop fastening system) commonly referred to as a pedalboard. Each cable connecting one pedal to another is two potential failure points (one at each connection) to emit loud, startling, unwanted, and possibly speaker damaging tones, or mute the entire effect chain all together. The power cord to each pedal adds a third failure point that can also mute the effect chain or insert unwanted noise into the signal path. With the multitude of cables connecting the effect pedals together, the user can easily become confused as to whether the effect pedal chain is connected to the front of the amp or to the effects loop, and also be limited in the orientation of installation on the pedalboard, causing awkward positioning of the activation/deactivation switches. This can cause distractions from performance, failure to activate or deactivate the effect when desired, and in rare cases possible injury to users due to loss of balance and concentration. Accordingly, because of these and many other problems with conventional technology, there still exists a need for an improved system and method for enabling a musician to produce high-quality sound effects while playing his or her electronic instrument.